COSC 304 Introduction to Database Systems

Fall (Winter Term 1) 2022 - University of British Columbia Okanagan

Overview

The COSC 304 course covers everything a computer programmer needs to know about databases (ER/UML database design, SQL, database programming). This course trains students on critical industrial skills.

On-line Resources

• Syllabus

Student Performance

Of the 208 registered students, all but 21 got a D or above. The average GPA was 2.98. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below.

Comments

This class continues to deliver high value to students, especially the labs and project (instructor rating: 4.9). The course has maintained virtual labs and office hours after COVID. All assignments were done in pairs, and the project assignments were done in groups of four. Pre-recorded videos were produced for all lectures. Scheduled times were live-streamed, recorded, and synchronous sessions spent time on questions as done in previous years. Canvas quizzes and clicker questions are used for engagement and practice. Introduced early grading for bonus marks in office hours. This encourages students to attend office hours and finish assignments earlier.

Strengths of the Course

• "Dr Ramon is the strength of this course. His deep knowledge and understanding of databases is only a set of why he is so good. His method of teaching is also perfect in engaging and motivating us and surprisingly, candy is a very good motivator :)"
  


• "Please teach more COSC and DATA courses. I now want to register for COSC courses just because Prof Ramon teaches it."
  


• "Strengths of this course definitely include Professor Ramon Lawrence. I don't think this class would be the same without him. The way he presented the information to learn was understandable and he tried many times to incorporate real world situations in the concepts we were leaning."
  


• "One thing that I really appreciated about the course was that the important content was focused on more than the additional topics and it was very clear to me exactly what to expect for midterms and finals. Another thing that I found useful was that we had practice questions on every lab because I used these a lot for practicing for midterms and it was quite an effective strategy since I did quite well after. In relation to this, the practice midterms were quite useful and really put into perspective how well my studying was going and most importantly it was very useful for figuring out a setup of my notes and stuff before doing the midterms so I was organized in advance since these were open book midterms."
  

Weakness of the Course

• "Some of the multiple choice questions are kind of annoying, like "how many statements are true""
  


• "Generally, I thought it was well done. The only thing was that sometimes I felt like some of the SQL and lab questions were a bit unclear, but after talking to him or TAs they were cleared up. Also, some more practice with some of the multiple–choice style questions asked on exams would be good, as that was probably the most challenging part for me."
  


• "Give the TA's answers to the labs, or make them solve the labs the week before. Many times we have gone to the TA hours and they themselves have been confused and not known how to tackle the lab."
  


• "It would be really great if he had more office hours, and also I would really enjoy if we had a chance to change our teammates and group monthly because as people get to know each other the collaboration decreases."
  


• "The course was very enjoyable. However, one of the more frustrating elements of the course was using Docker and setting up labs. In some of the pair labs and a couple of the starter group projects, the starter code would not work out of the box as intended and would require tinkering. While it was an exciting challenge to try and figure out how to fix the starter–code, often it would come after hours of trying, which was slightly stressful. In the future, I would love it if the professor could spend some dedicated time in class going over Docker and showing us ways to approach fixing problems and bugs we may face, not only while setting up the labs but working on our project in the future."
  

Most Enjoyable Part of the Course

• "The best professor I have ever had. Useful practice exams, bonus marks, and different markings depending on grades lessen the stress of the course without sacrificing difficulty. The lectures are extremely well–paced and appreciate that it is available to attend online. I don't think I will have another professor with the same level of skill when it comes to teaching in my lifetime. Not my favorite subject, but definitely my favorite class."
  


• "The course was well organized. Each topic we were tested on was spoken about in detail. Furthermore, we were provided with all the resources used in class to allow us to revisit any subject covered. The labs were enjoyable overall, and the instructions were clear. Furthermore, the availability of office hours on most, if not all, days of the week allowed us to reach out for assistance more efficiently instead of waiting until the following week or sending an email. While open–book, the midterms sought to test our application of the knowledge learnt, which encouraged me to retain the knowledge. Course incentivized me to work hard and rewarded early submissions, which helped keep me on track with the course and workload across all courses."
  


• "The instructor's enthusiasm towards the topic fostered an exciting and well thought out course."